Little Owl Purse

Hello there again! Lately I have been on a crocheting kick and have been making and creating for several months now. Crocheting is relaxing and quite portable so for the time being, this is my choice of crafting time. I found a pattern on the internet for a cute little owl coin purse so thought I would test it out and see how I liked it. Well, I started working the pattern (yes, as written) and kept referring back to the image on the pattern because MY OWL PURSE LOOKED NOTHING LIKE THAT PARTICULAR IMAGE!! I am a person that will rip it out try again, rip it out, try again to correct where I have gone astray BUT NOOOO, I FOLLOWED the written pattern and got a TOTALLY different SHAPE!!! Scratching my head on that one STILL. I will however, make the pattern again & try to seriously get to the bottom of where it goes astray. lol BUT, I must add here, I truly think my owl purse worked up to be a much cuter shape than the pattern depicts. I ABSOLUTELY LOVE this little owl purse and it is perfect for my grand daughters! The difference in the two are: in the photo above the outside bottom edges should not angle out as they do here, they SHOULD be the shape of a stop sign image! Go figure! I mean, this whole pattern is not of that shape! lol The eyes, the talons, and the owl hood is the same as the pattern. I just thought I would jot this down aso I remember the next time I make this pattern so I do not rip it out again & again ... just work it the way it is! Oh and one more thing to remember, I worked this pattern with 2 strands as one, one of which was the boucle yarn to give it that ruffley soft feather look and the other yarn was a 4 ply weight. Love the look and will definitely do this again.

Busy Hands = Happy Heart

My goodness! It has been such a long while since I last sat here to add a completed project! So many things have kept me away from my blog but that's ok, because I have been busy creating! Yes, I said creating! I have been crocheting up a storm from hats to headbands to fingerless gloves, scarves, flowers ... and the list goes on!
Crocheting seems to be the craft for me these days because it is so portable! I can make a bunch of small projects in no time and take it anywhere to complete! Gotta love that! As with any of us crafters, no matter what the craft of choice happens tobe at the moment, it keeps our hands busy, our creative juices flowing and helps to use up our stock so we can buy new! ; ) Using our coupons of course!
Lately, I have tried my hand at writing crochet patterns and have come up with a few good ones. I have not published them as yet but I will get there. Here I have created a hat for my grandson who just loves Goku, which is the symbol I added to this hat.  

  I created this particular design for my grand daughter. I wanted a little twist to just an otherwise plain hat and was happy with this design. It works up fast & easy and has a little versatility for future usage.

Whatever I am working on at the moment, I have realized Busy Hands = a very Happy Heart! Until the next time ... Have fun being creative!

MERMAID TEARS PURSE

I woke yesterday morning & started my usual morning routine. It was early, the house was quiet with everyone getting a few more winks, which gave me time to surf, you know ... "the net". : )  Now, this could be a dangerous thing for me cuz you never know what I may find to get my creative juices flowing!
I started out a search for a specific pattern and got seriously sidetracked when I came across this pattern! I was searching on youtube, as I sometimes do, so to be completely fair you can watch the entire project on youtube from start to finish!!! I think I found one of my new favs with this Michael doing the tutorials for this pattern. Oh sure, I would have figured it out on my own ... eventually, but he does an amazing job showing exactly how these pattern stitches are done correctly! I don't mean the pattern is hard at all, I just mean the stitches are a little trickier than most SOOO it was soooo nice to be able to SEE them done in action and he does an amazing job as a tutorialist!!! I learned FOUR new pattern stitches with this one pattern and I am soooo loving the new stitches. I can see myself using them for other projects for sure! I will say that I modified the pattern so it would be a standing purse instead of a flat bottom whipstitched as the pattern direction suggests. That is the only change I made to the pattern.
Well, anyway, back to the project. What can I say? I found the pattern. I conquered it (in one day) and I LOVE the end result! The best thing of all: it didn't cost me anything but my time to make this project! I have a good supply of yarn I have accumulated from my Mom & my sister so all I needed was to choose my colors for the project! I chose bright & colorful so it is a playful but sassy look!
Hope you like it! I can't wait to make this one again in different colors ... maybe black, white, grey w/ a red rose! That sounds like a stylish combo ...

BE SURE TO CHECK OUT http://www.youtube.com/ for the pattern Search: Left Handed Mermaid Tears Purse .

I would add the link but I am not sure how to do that. Sorry : (

PULELEHUA'S JEWELRY

So 2 wks ago I ran out of the beads I need to add to the crocheted shawl I have been working on to complete, so off to Michael's I went with my hubby in toe! It just happened to be a Saturday Michael's was promoting their classes so the tables were set outside the store with displays of what you can learn in the classes they offer. Now, knowing me, I can't just walk by ... Nooo, I have to see what the ladies have made. So I am looking & Terry (my dear, sweet hubby of 40 yrs in April) leans against the pillar outside the front door & patiently waits. I look at the bootees, little baby items she has displayed (nope, not interested in those) so I scan down the table to see the jewelry and as my mind clearly is thinking ... I could do this! ... the first lady asks "Do you have any crafts?"
Never missing a beat, not a moments hesitation, dear sweet Terry nevers utters one word .... he simply raises his hand to his forehead and slaps it as he rolls his eyes!!! I thought those ladies would fall out of their chairs from laughter! I proceeded to enter the store and search for the beads I needed for my shawl ... with him in toe.  : )
The next day, I thought I would watch a little youtube, just for something to do, and I was intrigued by the jewelry videos I watched so of course, I had to try my hand at jewelry making because you, my fellow crafters, KNOW how we are when we see something we get in our head to try! What was that you said, did I need a new hobby? OF COURSE NOT! lol But it truly is easier than one would think to make your own jewelry and it is fun, Fun, FUN! Well, that, and I just couldn't pass up the opportunity to try it with Michael's having such a great sale on their beads!
So, I thought I would post the few that I have made to date. I am learning as I go and having fun trying new ideas. Some of the bracelets are simply strung as you can see and some are crocheted with wire. Yes, I did say crocheted! Crocheting with wire is a little trickier but I like the look of it and I think it adds a bit of elegance to the finished product. So far I have used glass beads of various sizes, freshwater pearls, stones, and different gauges of wire so the end result gives me different looks. All in all I am having fun!

**Just a note: pulelehua is hawaiian for a vanessa butterfly & I have chosen to use the name for my jewelry line, as well as my poetry posts on http://www.writingroom.com/ . If you care to read my poetry go to http://www.writingroom.com/ , search members pulelehua for my poetry; and my husbands poetry is listed there also .... his id is searcher. Enjoy the poetry if you so choose & feel free to be a member ... it is free to anyone who wants to post their writings, whatever they may be!

Enjoy the photos of PULELEHUA'S JEWELRY!

Fondant Creations

 Trenton turned 4 last week & wanted an Iron Man cake for his birthday! So of course, Brynn & I had to deliver ... meet Iron Man, well his head anyway! Trenton actually thinks he is Iron Man & when asked what his name is, well, he simply says "Iron Man" in his best 4 yr old verbage. :-)  He is 4 & yes he had his hand in this creation as you can see one little fingerprint for his nostril. ;-)  He wanted to taste this thing soooo bad & tried as he might to get a quick taste, well let's just say that isn't as easy to accomplish when the cake is covered in fondant. lol

I am not going to lie, this cake was a challenge! I am just getting into working with fondant cakes & have made a few so maybe the size was intimidating but we, Brynn &I, were up to a challenge. This is a 3 layer yellow cake iced with homemade buttercream icing. We iced the entire cake (aka crumb icing) & then proceeded to carve the shape we wanted. When we were happy with our design, then we kneaded & kneaded & kneaded our homemade marshmallow fondant to get the consistency needed to work our magic. We then rolled out the fondant & created our Iron Man head. His head is a nice gold color so we painted the yellow fondant with a gold dust (edible of course) & it gave us the perfect color we were looking for...gold & shiny! This is my first fondant cake of this size & Brynn's first fondant cake of any size :-) so we were very happy with the look of the end result & more than happy with the taste! I know you have heard this said elsewhere but Ohhh I wish you could smell this yummy cake! Fondant has such a sweet aroma and it permeated the room. It was a heavenly scent! Yumm :o)

I know Trenton as happy with his birthday cake as we were to make it! HAPPY BIRTHDAY TRENTON! 

And the Beat Goes On ....

Wow! It's hard to believe it has been such a long time since I have posted anything here ... since Feb! Understandably so. You see it was the first week of Feb. when all Hell broke loose here at the old homestead. I mean that literally!lol Yes, I can laugh about it now but there certainly wasn't much lol goin' on back then. No sirree Bob! A slab leak & pipe breakage changed things around here in a hurry!  : (  Oh sure, we could have used some updating around here, BUT sure wish we had made that choice ourselves instead of plumbing probs slamming us against the wall, slapping handcuffs on us, screaming "Ur outta here baby!" lol
Written to the tune of Hit the Road Jack ...
plumbings need repair cuz ya treat me so mean
you're the meanest homeowner that I ev'r seen
walls need to go an' the tiles comin' up
cuz I'm leakin' un'aneath
just'a makin' it hot
ya got troubles, yeah, some kin'a troubles.
I guess I told you so, hah
cuz now its all gotta go, go, go, go!
cuz now its all gotta go,
Get out!
Hit the Road Jack
and don't you come back
for 3 - 4 months on down the road,
Hit the Road Jack,
and don't come back till June
Oh, what'd you say?
Yeah, Hit the Road Jack
and don't ya come back till June, June, June, June.
Hit the Road Jack
and don't ya come back till June,
don't ya come back till June,
don't ya come back till June.

LOL, yep I do have a sense of humor about it now & I just thought I would share it with anyone out there wanting to get a laugh.
What did you say? Is it all better now? lol Oh noooo, BUT, it's getting there, slow but sure so that's a good thing. I mean let's face it, when DIYers are doing so much of the work, things move at a snails pace & with that comes a few mishaps, many, many trips to Home Depot and a lot of sweat & tears. Well, more sweat than tears but that's what home owning is all about, right?! Well, for this one anyway ... it's the DIYing that I love. Each completed room tells a story & we truly made it our own. Gotta love that ... well, if you are looking through my hubby's eyes, maybe not so much. hahaha He has a little trouble seeing the big picture at times but in the end, he LOVES a finished project! : )  He just doesn't like the Honey-do list being soooo long.  :-)  The kitchen is 95% complete and we LOVE, LOVE, LOVE IT! We can Thank: Eleuterio & his crew for the Awesome transformation & for actually making our design come to fruition in the kitchen, & Jake for working his magic w/ lighting & electrical.
Now, if we could just get the shower tiled & completed this family would be one big happy household again! Six people sharing ONE bathroom does not make fun times! I know, I know, that is what we did waaaaay back in the old days but in the 20th century we have been spoiled with indoor plumbing LOL and TWO OR MORE working bathrooms and quite frankly, that is probably the smartest addition home builders thought of back then. Can you imagine the first person to add a 2nd bathroom to a home & the hoity toitiness (is that even a word? lol) they probably went through from the townsmen? Probably thought it was such a waste of space back then. That's too funny!
Ok, off to do some more tile work! : )  
Enjoy your day!

HEARTFUL STITCHES ... Just in time for VALENTINE'S DAY

"MIDNIGHT" SCARF

"BLUE RHAPSODY"

"EBONY TIPPED SLATE"

"GOLDEN SPLASH"

"SENSUAL RHAPSODY"

Here I have crocheted a series of scarves. They are quick and easy to complete in a matter of hours so I just had fun with them and changed them up a bit. Some are long, some short, and some I have nicknamed the Sassy Tie. The Sassy Tie is quite simply a scarf with a ready made slot so one end easily slips through the slot overlapping each other keeping it in place around the neck. They are soft and fun adding just enough pizzazz to any ensemble!